It must be because, due to the similar form and colour of its cap, it has to live in the perpetual shadow of its glorious cousin, the cep. Many a forager rushed to a brown dome half-hidden in leaf litter, only to discover a less attractive mushroom and be sorely disappointed.
But is their disappointment really justified?
Ceps are beautiful, can reach impressive sizes and keep their white flesh colour whether they are fried, marinated or dried. They definitely are the best mushroom aesthetically.
However, if we take a more pragmatic point of view, the taste and texture of bay boletes are indistinguishable from ceps, with an added bonus that they are also usually free of mould and maggots, even in case of very mature specimens. They are also much less fussy about their habitat (and therefore more common), and keep fruiting until winter months, when all other fungal presence in the forest is long gone. Are you not in love with them yet? Because I am.
They do stain blue when bruised, but so what. It doesn't scare a seasoned mushroom hunter like myself. There is just one thing I wish was different about them: unlike ceps that can be seen on the forest floor from twenty metres or more, these guys like hiding, and you normally won't notice one until you practically step on it.
So next time you see this wonderful mushroom, don't scorn it. Put it lovingly in the basket, and treat it just like a cep. It deserves no less.
Image credit:
Boletus badius
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